"I was kind of surprised," the 17year-old said by telephone from the Hospital of St. Raphael, where he was listed in fair condition Thursday.

The youth, a Hillhouse High School junior, was shot in the chest late Sunday afternoon less than a block from his house, shortly after returning from church with his father and four younger brothers.

The teenager said he wasn't certain where he would go to college but that it was possible he would accept the Albertus Magnus offer.

He was wounded coming to the aid of his younger brother, Edgar, 14. The younger boy had been knocked off his bicycle by gang members.

Family members told police that a gang known as the Kensington Street International held a grudge against Winfred and Edgar because they refused to sell or store drugs for the gang.

On Tuesday police charged a 15year-old city youth with the shooting.

The small, Catholic liberal arts college decided to make the offer after officials read about the assault in the newspaper.

"His stand required more than just the courage to say no; indeed, it placed his life in jeopardy," the school said in its statement. "Far too many youngsters today face that decision, and it behooves us all to encourage them -- not just by words but concretely -- to do the right thing."

The idea originated with Robert T. Dinan, the school's vice president for administration and finance, who made the offer after discussing it with other officials, including President Julia M. McNamara.

"So many times kids like this don't get a break, and we've got

to start looking at them," Dinan said.

"I was elated," the boy's father, Winfred Rembert, said Thursday.

He said the family has received an outpouring of sympathy from people all over the state since the shooting, but the college's offer was unexpected.

"I couldn't figure out for the life of me what Albertus Magnus was doing calling here," he said. "I wasn't looking for nothing like this."

Rembert, an unemployed heavy equipment operator, said his son has had good grades and skipped ninth grade but could not have afforded college without help.